DAY #11 IDITAROD TUESDAY MARCH 17, 2026 ST. PATTY'S DAY UNALAKLEET-WHITE MT
TODAY is the day for Jessie Holmes to arrive under the burled arch in NOME. It hasn't happened yet but perhaps in a few hours.
IT IS ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!! My friend Joanne Chapman made a delicious REUBEN SANDWICH with corned beef, cabbage, cheese on a sandwich. WOW it was good. It was dinner on bread!!
Above: JASON MACKEY(LANCE MACKEY'S SON) coming into KOYUK. JASON is from FAIRBANKS.
One of PAIGE DROBNY'S dogs in UNALAKLEET. Ready to go......
ABOVE: The village of UNALAKLEET
The extra sad news is JODY POTTS - JOSEPH has scratched in UNALAKLEET. Still not certain what the problem was but the media said she called the race officials via 2 way communicator giving them her decision to scratch.The officials sent personnel to assist her with safe transport to UNALAKLEET via snow machine.
Above: JESSIE HOLMES saying goodbye to the volunteers in UNALAKLEET. Fans of certain mushers send pizzas from PEACE ON EARTH in UNK. Someone sent JESSIE one but he went thru too quickly so someone on a snowmobile chased him down to deliver his pizza.
Hank and I stayed for 5 days in UNALAKLEET to volunteer. GREAT place but I have mentioned this before and now I'm being redundant!!
Above: My next, and hopefully last sad news, MILLE PORSILD 53 from DENMARK scratched in ELIM (123 miles from NOME). Her 4 year old dog Charley died on route. He passed all pre race and vet testing so a necropsy will be preformed in UNALAKLEET. The rule of the race is if a dog dies on a team the musher can volunteer to scratch or be withdrawn by the race officials. She was definitely a favorite. She had been 1st thru 3rd thru the race. MILLE was named top rookie in 2020. She had 4 top 10 finishes over 5 years and in 2021 received the Humanitarian Award from the VETS who believed demonstrated the best dog care.
FYI: Mandatory for the mushers to have in their sled. These are checked at each checkpoint. If anything is missing they are disqualified. They MUST HAVE: a cooker, dog booties, sleeping bag, snowshoes, promotional pack, vet book, an axe, fuel, insulated dog coats and a vet pack.
JESSIE HOLMES, just when I thought he won ALMOST all the awards he has won 1st to WHITE MOUNTAIN with 13 dogs, first given out in 2018. Northrim Bank gave the ACHIEVE MORE AWARD. He was given a $2,500 check and a special trophy that will be kept at IDITAROD Headquarters year round.
As of midnight EST JESSIE HOLMES is in SAFETY (22 miles from NOME). 5 of the top 10 are in WHITE MOUNTAIN: TRAVIS BEALS, JEFF DEETER, PAIGE DROBNY, WADE MARRS, MATT HALL, RILEY DYCHE, MICHELLE PHILLIPS, LAURO EKLUND and PETE KAISER. There are 6 mushers in ELIM, 10 mushers in KOYUK, 7 mushers in SHAKTOOLIK and the last 2 are in UNALAKLEET: ADAM LINDENMUTH and GRAYSON BRUTON.
From UNALAKLEET to SHAKTOOLIK is 40 miles and from SHAKTOOLIK to KOYUK is 50 miles KOYUK to ELIM is 48 miles ELIM to GOLOVNIM is 28 miles and GOLOVNIM to WHITE MOUNTAIN is 18 miles. Temps haven't changed very much. Low (minus) temps and wind.
77 miles from WHITE MOUNTAIN to NOME
Let's hope JESSIE HOLMES will come in tonight.
TILL TOMORROW
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